Academic success in adolescence: Relationships among verbal IQ,social support and emotional intelligence

The objective of this study was to examine, by gender, whether emotional intelligence (EI), peer social support, and/or family social support partially mediated the influence of verbal IQ on Grade 10 grade point average (GPA) for 192 students (96 male, 96 female). For male students, EI and peer social support predicted GPA and EI mediated the association between verbal IQ and GPA. For female students, EI, peer social support, and family support predicted GPA but did not mediate the association between verbal IQ and GPA. This study further examined whether subscales of EI (intrapersonal, interpersonal, adaptability, and stress management abilities), peer social support and family social support (emotional, socialising, practical, financial, and advice) added to the prediction of GPA after verbal IQ, gender, and socioeconomic status were controlled. Adaptability, stress management and practical family social support each added to the explanation of variability. None of the peer social support subscales predicted additional variance in GPA.     

Contribution of Peer Deviancy Training to the Early Development of Conduct Problems: Mediators and Moderators

Three variables were tested as moderators of the relationship between peer deviancy training and child antisocial behavior in a longitudinal study of 267 boys and girls from ages 5.3 to 9.3 years. Deviancy training was directly measured by observation of the discourse and play of children with same-gender classmates. Peer deviancy training was significantly related to multi-setting child antisocial behavior from ages 5.3 to 9.3 years. Child impulsivity, poor parental discipline, and peer rejection were all significant moderators of that relationship, even in the context of their direct association with trajectories of antisocial behavior and after controlling for deviant peer affiliation. These moderator effects appeared to be associated with children's increased sensitivity to peer modeling and reinforcement of deviant discourse and play. Not all children are equally affected by peer deviancy training, and an array of intervention strategies are described that may serve to protect children from deviant peer influence.     

Development and modification of a response class via positive and negative reinforcement: a translational approach

When responses function to produce the same reinforcer, a response class exists. Researchers have examined response classes in applied settings; however, the challenges associated with conducting applied research on response class development have recently necessitated the development of an analogue response class model. To date, little research has examined response classes that are strengthened by negative reinforcement. The current investigation was designed to develop a laboratory model of a response class through positive reinforcement (i.e., points exchangeable for money) and through negative reinforcement (i.e., the avoidance of scheduled point losses) with 11 college students as participants and clicks as the operant. Results of both the positive and negative reinforcement evaluations showed that participants usually selected the least effortful response that produced points or the avoidance of point losses, respectively. The applied implications of the findings are discussed, along with the relevance of the present model to the study of punishment and resurgence.     

The Impact of Having Children on the Lives of Women: The Effects of Children Questionnaire

The current study uses a newly developed questionnaire, the Effects of Children Questionnaire, to examine the impact of having children on women's lives. Participants were lower- and lower-middle-class women. The questionnaire assessed women's perceptions of their own change and other women's experiences of change as a result of having children in a number of life domains. Exploratory analyses, repeated-measures analyses, factor analyses, and regression analyses were used to test hypotheses. Results suggested that women do compare themselves with other women, that there are two primary factors underlying perceptions of change, and that there are significant changes from having children in various life domains. Results are discussed in terms of the costs and benefits of having children.     

A Systems Approach to Understanding and Improving Research Integrity

Science and Engineering Ethics - Concern about the integrity of empirical research has arisen in recent years in the light of studies showing the vast majority of publications in academic journals...     

From Freud to the present day: difference,not knowing and its relation to psychoanalysis

In order to know and to understand we are often tempted to use defined models and theories. But catastrophe happens when you project models onto phenomena where they don’t belong. Difference exists and not all phenomena can be forced to reside within existing models. We can project our already known theories and ideas onto what we think we see through certain frames that we create but the cost may be dear. There is no one way to understand the unconscious and the psyche. Psychoanalysis is always open for revision and development. Old models can be broken and new thought created. The unconscious is an impossible yet generative resource. We need to stay open to not knowing – constantly look at the frame and stay alert to its constructed nature. We need our frame to work with the unconscious but not to the detriment of the spirit of that unconscious.     

Treatment of resistance to change in children with autism

“Resistance to change” represents a core symptom of autism that we conceptualized and assessed as resulting in part due to factors known to govern free‐operant choice. During a free‐choice baseline, participants chose between problematic, resistive responses and an appropriate alternative response. During the asymmetrical‐choice condition, we delivered their most highly preferred item if the participant chose the alternative response (i.e., differential reinforcement of alternative behavior [DRA]). During the guided‐ (Experiment 1) and singular‐ (Experiment 2) choice conditions, we prompted participants to choose the alternative response and then delivered their most highly preferred item (i.e., DRA with escape extinction). All participants learned to tolerate (Experiment 1) or choose (Experiment 2) the alternative response when we combined DRA with escape extinction. After exposure to escape extinction, two participants showed strong maintenance effects with DRA alone. We discuss these finding relative to the effects of DRA and escape extinction on resistance to change.     

Organizations Behaving Badly: Antecedents and Consequences of Uncivil Workplace Environments

The present study investigated the relationship between employees’ perceptions of five characteristics emphasized in their work organization (i.e., individualism, hostile interaction styles, competition, hierarchical governance, and email reliance) and the occurrence of incivility in that context. We also examined how perceptions of uncivil environments, in turn, related to personal experiences of workplace incivility and negative outcomes for targets. The proposed model was examined in two samples of university faculty. Study 1 tested the model with three organizational characteristics (individualism, hostile interaction styles, and competition) and three outcomes (job satisfaction, turnover intentions, and physical health) in a sample of faculty from a wide range of departments at a large Southern university. The second study investigated two additional organizational characteristics (hierarchical governance and email reliance) and an additional outcome (psychological distress) in a nationwide sample of law faculty. Results demonstrated that all but one of the characteristics (email reliance) related to perceptions of an uncivil workplace environment; uncivil environment perceptions, in turn, predicted personal experiences of incivility and negative occupational and health outcomes.